PNIYEBSITY  OF   CALIFOBMIA  rgBLICATIOMS 

COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION 

BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 


THE  LOQUAT 


BY 
IRA   J.   GONDII 


BULLETIN  No.  250 

Berkeley,  CaT.,  March,  1915 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PRESS 

BERKELEY 

1915 


Bex.iamix  IDE  Wheeler,  President  of  the  University. 

EXPERIMENT  STATION  STAFF 

HEADS  OF  DIVISIONS 
Thomas  Forsyth  Hunt,  Director. 

Eugene  W.  Hilgard,   Agricultural  Chemistry    (Emeritus). 
Edward  J.   Wicksox,  Horticulture. 

Herbert  J.  Webber,  Director  Citrus  Experiment  Station;  Plant  Breeding. 
Hubert  E.  Vax  Normax,  Vice  Director;    Dairy  Management. 
William  A.  Setchell,  Botany. 
Myer  E.  Jaffa,  Nutrition. 

Robert  H.  Loughridge,  Soil  Chemistry  and  Physics    (Emeritus). 
Charles  W.  Woodworth,  Entomology. 
Ralph  E.   Smith,  Plant  Pathology. 
J.  Eliot  Coit,  Citriculture. 
Johx  W.  Gilmore,  Agronomy. 
Charles  F.   Shaw,   Soil  Technology. 

Jonx  W.  Gregg,  Landscape  Gardening  and  Floriculture. 
Frederic  T.  Bioletti,  Viticulture  and  Enology. 
Warrex  T.  Clarke,  Agricultural  Extension. 
Johx  S.  Burd,  Agricultural  Chemistry. 
Charles  B.   Lipmax,  Soil  Chemistry  and  Bacterioloay. 
Clarexce  M.   Harixg,   Veterinary   Science   and   Bacteriology. 
Ernest  B.  Babcock,   Genetics. 
Gordox   H.   True,   Animal  Husbandry. 
Arxold  V.  Stubexrauch,  Pomology-. 
Fritz  W.  Woll,  Animal  Nutrition. 
James  T.  Barrett,  Plant  Pathology. 
Walter  Mulford,  Forestry. 
Walter  P.  Kelly,  Agricultural  Chemistry. 
William  G.  Hummel,  Agricultural  Education. 
Leox  M.  Davis,  Dairy  Industry. 
Johx  E.  Dougherty,  Poultry  Husbandry. 
Frank  Adams,  Irrigation  Practice. 
David  N.  Morgan,  Assistant  to  the  Director. 
Mrs.  D.  L.  Bunnell,  Librarian. 

DIVISION  OF  CITRICULTURE 
J.  Eliot  Coit  Ira  J.  Coxdit 


THE    LOQUAT* 

By  I.  J.  CONDIT 


SUMMARY 

Loquat  trees  have  long  been  grown  in  California  for  fruit  and 
ornament,  principally  in  private  grounds  and  public  parks.  These 
trees,  being  seedlings,  usually  produced  inferior  fruit.  During  the 
last  few  years  improved  varieties  have  been  developed  here  and  intro- 
duced from  other  countries.  This  has  stimulated  interest  and  now 
many  commercial  orchards  are  found  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state. 

Loquats  do  well  wherever  the  production  of  lemons  is  successful. 
They  blossom  and  set  fruit  from  October  to  February  and,  while  the 
blossoms  are  fairly  resistant  to  cold,  the  developing  fruit  is  liable  to 
be  injured  by  temperatures  much  below  30°  F. 

The  loquat  tree  is  not  particular  as  to  soil  requirements.  Although 
poor  soils  and  a  scanty  supply  of  water  will  produce  an  abundant 
crop,  and  the  individual  fruits  may  be  of  good  flavor  and  quality,  they 
are  almost  invariably  small.  Since  size  is  an  important  factor  in  a 
commercial  fruit,  the  fertilization  and  irrigation  of  the  soil  will  have 
to  be  regulated  so  as  to  produce  fruit  equal  to  the  market  demand. 

The  loquat  tree  is  very  prolific  and  liable  to  overbear.  A  common 
practice  in  some  sections  is  to  crowd  the  trees  into  rows  twenty- four 
feet  apart,  with  the  trees  twelve  feet  apart  in  the  row.  This  helps 
to  dwarf  the  tree  and  to  produce  more  uniform  and  regular  crops. 

Some  of  the  best  varieties  have  been  developed  in  California.  The 
best  variety  for  an  early  market  is  the  Early  Red,  which  often  ripens 
in  February.  The  best  mid-season  varieties  are  the  Champagne,  Thales, 
Advance,  and  Victor. 


*  Material  for  this  bulletin  has  been  collected  during  the  past  two  years  by 
visits  to  nurseries,  orchards,  and  markets,  by  studies  of  the  tree  and  of  fruits 
collected  from  different  sources,  and  by  extensive  research  into  literature.  It 
has  been  prepared  in  response  to  the  increasing  interest  in  loquat  culture  and 
to  the  many  inquiries  about  the  fruit  received  from  time  to  time  from  nearly 
all  sections  of  the  state.  The  writer  wishes  to  express  his  appreciation  to  all 
who  have  furnished  information  or  specimens  for  study  or  who  have  in  any 
way  contributed  facts  concerning  the  loquat  and  its  culture.  He  is  especially 
indebted  to  Mr.  C.  P.  Taft  of  Orange  for  much  practical  information  regarding 
culture  and  varieties,  to  Mr.  W.  L.  Thales  of  Placentia  for  many  helpful  points 
regarding  the  Thales  variety  and  its  importance,  and  to  Mr.  K.  A.  Kyerson  of 
Altadena  for  suggestions  and  citations  to  literature. 

[251] 


252  UNIVERSITY   OP    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

More  careful  methods  of  grading  and  packing  are  advisable.  If 
good  markets  for  the  fresh  fruit  are  to  be  developed  and  good  prices 
received,  the  grower  should  ship  only  uniform  fruit  of  good  size  and 
quality.  The  poorer  grades  may  be  utilized  for  jelly,  jam,  and  pre- 
serves. 

The  average  price  received  for  the  fruit  during  the  past  few  years 
has  been  about  5  cents  per  pound.  Budded  trees  are  usually  pre- 
cocious and  begin  to  bear  profitably  at  the  age  of  four  or  five  years. 
Trees  ten  years  old  should  produce  200  pounds  of  marketable  fruit. 

The  loquat  tree  is  remarkably  free  from  serious  insect  or  fungous 
pests.  The  pear  blight  often  attacks  the  flower  clusters  and  twigs  in 
the  spring  of  the  year,  but  is  only  occasionally  fatal  to  the  tree.  Birds 
often  destroy  quantities  of  the  fruit  during  the  harvesting  season. 
Their  depredations  may  be  prevented  in  small  orchards  by  bagging 
the  clusters  of  fruit  before  the  color  develops. 


INTRODUCTORY 

The  loquat  is,  comparatively  speaking,  a  neglected  fruit  in  Cali- 
fornia. With  few  exceptions,  the  trees  now  growing  in  this  state  are 
seedlings,  bearing  as  a  rule  small  and  inferior  fruits.  Good  varieties 
that  are  well  suited  to  our  climatic  and  soil  conditions  have,  however, 
been  developed  here  and  introduced  from  abroad.  There  are  com- 
mercial orchards  in  Santa  Barbara,  Ventura,  San  Diego,  and  Orange 
counties.  In  Orange,  where  the  largest  orchards  are  to  be  found, 
enough  fruit  is  produced  to  warrant  co-operation  of  the  growers  in 
marketing.  In  the  northern  and  central  parts  of  the  state  there  are 
no  commercial  loquat  orchards,  but  one  or  two  trees  are  to  be  found 
in  almost  every  good  home  garden  collection  of  fruits.  The  lack  of 
good  varieties,  the  occasional  failure  of  the  crop  on  account  of  frost 
injury,  and  the  greater  interest  in  better-known  fruits  are  the  main 
reasons  for  the  lack  of  attention  given  the  loquat  by  commercial 
growers  in  these  regions. 

BOTANY  AND  NOMENCLATCJEE 

The  loquat  belongs  to  the  family  Rosaceae,  sub-family  Pomeae. 
It  is  a  true  pome  fruit  and  is  closely  related  to  the  apple,  pear,  quince, 
ha\^i:horn,  and  medlar.  Our  first  knowledge  of  the  plant  is  from 
Kaempfer,  who,  according  to  his  ' '  Amoenitates  Exoticae,"  fasc.  5, 
p.  800,  published  in  1712,  noticed  it  growing  in  Japan.  Thunberg  in 
his  "Flora  japonica,"  p.  206  (1784),  gave  a  more  ample  description  of 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  253 

it  under  the  name  of  Mespilus  japonica.  In  1822  John  Lindley  made 
a  revision  of  the  genus  Mespilus  and  placed  the  loquat  in  the  new 
genus  Eriohotrya,  species  japonica,  the  accepted  nomenclature  at  the 
present  time.  The  generic  name  Eriohotrya  is  derived  from  two  Greek 
words,  erion,  wool,  and  hotrys,  a  cluster,  in  allusion  to  the  woolly 
inflorescence. 

Common  Names. — According  to  the  Century  Dictionary,  the  word 
loquat  is  derived  from  the  Cantonese  dialect,  lukwat,  -lull,  a  rush,  and 
kiuh,  an  orange.  The  loquat  was  introduced  into  this  country  under 
the  name  of  ' '  Japan  plum. ' '  It  was  also  known  as  * '  Japanese  medlar ' ' 
in  the  Gulf  States.  The  first  botanical  description  of  the  plant  placed 
it  in  the  genus  Mespilus,  hence  the  early  name  ''Japan  Mespilus"  or 
"Medlar".  At  a  meeting  of  the  Florida  Nurserymen's  Association 
about  1888,  it  was  voted  that  the  word  ''loquat"  should  be  used  hence- 
forth, since  the  term  "Japan  plum"  was  liable  to  be  confused  with 
the  true  plums,  varieties  of  which  were  then  being  introduced  from 
Japan. 

Seeds. — The  flower  of  the  loquat  is  pentamerous  and  each  of  the 
five  ovaries  contains  two  ovules.  If  all  of  the  ovules  develop,  we 
should  have,  therefore,  a  ten-seeded  fruit.  Occasionally  fruits  con- 
taining six,  seven,  or  even  eight  seeds  are  found,  but  the  better  varie- 
ties average  only  three  or  four  and  are  superior  chiefly  in  a  greater 
thickness  of  flesh.  An  analysis  of  the  Thales  loquat  shows  the  weight 
of  seed  to  be  15  per  cent  of  the  total,  one  of  the  Champagne  18.2  per 
cent  of  the  total,  while  a  Japanese  analysis*^  gives  a  percentage  of 
26.43  of  dry  matter,  13.72  per  cent  of  which  consists  of  seed.  Some 
seedless  or  nearly  seedless  varieties  are  reported  in  other  countries, 
but  none  have  proved  a  commercial  success  here.  A  good  seedless 
loquat  is  like  a  good  seedless  apple — a  great  desirability,  but  as  yet 
only  a  future  possibility. 

On  account  of  a  bitter  principle  in  the  seeds,  due  to  the  presence 
of  prussic  acid,  a  few  seeds  cooked  with  the  fruit  in  making  jelly  or 
sauce  will  improve  the  flavor.  Occasional  references  are  found  to  the 
poisoning  of  fowls  from  eating  loquat  seeds,  an  accident  which  is 
entirely  possible  if  any  large  quantity  of  the  ground  seeds  is  consumed. 
Larger  animals  are  not  ordinarily  affected. 

GEOGEAPHICAL  DISTEIBUTTON 

Meyer  states*^  that  "the  loquat  is  in  all  probability  indigenous  to 
the  hills  of  the  mild-wintered,  moist  regions  of  central-eastern  China. 
Specimens  were  observed  growing  wild  among  the  scrub  in  the  region 


254  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

near  Tangsi,  Chekiang  Province.  That  section  is  one  of  the  most  noted 
loquat  regions  of  China,  As  far  as  the  eye  can  see,  one  observ^es  nothing 
but  loquat  orchards  growing  luxuriantly  on  the  low,  rich  land,  where 
the  roots  never  suffer  from  lack  of  water.  The  Chinese  consider  the 
loquat  a  very  profitable  tree,  although  apparently  it  bears  a  good  crop 
only  ever}^  two  or  three  years.  Rev.  Alexander  Kennedy,  a  missionary 
in  Tangsi,  who  assisted  us  a  great  deal  in  obtaining  various  plants, 
stated  that  in  the  spring  of  1906  the  loquat  crop  was  so  great  in  his 
vicinity  that  from  the  village  of  Tangsi  alone  twenty  thousand  dollars 
worth  of  fruit  was  exported."  According  to  S.  W.  Williams,^  the 
loquat  grows  as  far  north  as  Fuhchan,  but  does  not  produce  such  good 
fruit  as  in  Canton.  Robert  Fortune,  who  traveled  extensively  in  China, 
says  that  the  loquat  is  cultivated  in  Hongkong,  and  that  he  saw  beau- 
tiful groves  of  this  fruit  tree  near  Hang-chow  Foo.  The  loquat  has 
been  cultivated  in  Japan  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  and  grows 
in  almost  every  district  except  the  extreme  northeastern  part.  T. 
Ikeda  says^^  that  the  loquat  ''seems  to  enjoy  mild  climates  in  the  prox- 
imity of  large  bodies  of  water.  Large  loquat  groves  flourish  and  fruit 
abundantly  in  the  littoral  districts  of  south  and  southeast  Japan,  only 
a  few  districts  being  noted  on  the  west  coast  of  Wakasa,  on  the  Sea 
of  Japan.  At  any  rate,  famous  loquat  regions  always  stand  by  the 
sea,  the  plantations  often  directly  facing  the  breeze,  being  located  on 
steep  hillsides  rising  directly  from  the  waters.  At  present  the  best 
fruits  are  produced  in  localities  from  35  degrees  N.  L.  southwards. 
Among  them  the  groves  of  Mogi,  a  fishing  village  near  Nagasaki,  and 
Sakurajima,  an  island  in  the  Gulf  of  Kagoshima,  produce  immense 
crops,  while  those  of  Tamura,  in  the  province  of  Kii,  and  Namuya,  in 
the  province  of  AAva,  have  also  been  famed  for  their  superior  produce. ' ' 
The  United  States  Daily  Consular  Report  of  February  7,  1912,  gave 
the  number  of  loquat 'trees  in  Japan  in  1909  to  be  841,974,  yielding 
15,469,996  pounds  of  fruit. 

Lord  Bagot,^  writing  in  1820,  says  that  the  loquat  "was  brought 
to  Europe  by  the  French  in  1784  and  planted  in  the  National  Garden 
at  Paris.  It  was  first  imported  into  England  from  Canton  and  placed 
in  the  Royal  Gardens  at  Kew  under  the  auspices  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks 
in  1787,  since  which  time  it  has  been  much  propagated  and  is  now 
to  be  found  in  every  good  collection  of  exotics  in  the  kingdom."  Its 
culture  in  England  is  restricted,  however,  to  conservatories  and  to 
protected  places  having  a  southern  exposure.  The  loquat  tree  is  com- 
mon in  Italy  and  in  Sicily,  and  in  both  countries  good  varieties  have 
been  developed.  The  tree  is  grown  commercially  in  Australia.  The 
loquat  has  for  many  years  been  a  familiar  fruit  in  the  gardens  of 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  255 

Hawaii.  In  Chile  the  loquat  has  been  grown  from  colonial  days. 
According  to  P.  "Wallace.^  the  loquat  was  introduced  into  the  Island 
of  St.  Michael  about  1823.  He  writes  that  the  finest  fruit  he  has  ever 
eaten  was  ''gathered  from  trees  on  the  side  of  a  hill  where  the  ground 
consisted  of  at  least  two-thirds  stones.  It  will  be  an  admirable  plant 
to  introduce  into  small  tropical  islands,  as  it  resists  the  effects  of  the 
salt  on  the  very  edge  of  the  sea."  The  loquat  is  said  to  be  planted 
rather  extensively  in  Uruguay,  as  the  fruits  find  there  a  ready  market. 

Dr.  Trabut  of  Algiers  has  given  considerable  attention  to  the  cul- 
ture and  improvement  of  the  loquat  and  has  developed  a  number  of 
named  varieties.  He  states**  that  the  first  attempts  to  cultivate  the 
loquat  for  fruit  have  not  elicited  much  enthusiasm,  but  that  in  the  last 
few  years  great  progress  has  been  made  in  the  improvement  of  varieties 
and  methods  of  culture. 

The  exact  date  of  the  introduction  of  the  loquat  into  the  United 
States  has  not  been  determined.  It  w^as  probably  grown  in  Florida 
earlier  than  in  California.  The  United  States  Patent  Office  Report 
for  1850-51  contains  a  letter  from  S.  W.  Williams  of  Canton,  in  which 
he  says  that  the  tree  is  quite  hardy  in  China,  but  no  mention  is  made 
regarding  the  introduction  of  the  plant  into  this  country.  J.  H. 
Kellom^^  reported  in  1889  that  the  loquat  came  directly  from  Japan 
to  California.  At  that  time  it  was  not  known  as  an  orchard  tree  in 
the  state.  In  1887  W.  G.  Klee^^  stated  that  "the  loquat  is  planted 
extensively  in  the  gardens  all  through  California,  but  has  generally 
been  considered  as  merely  ornamental.  In  no  case  are  we  aware  of 
its  being  planted  as  an  orchard  tree."  It  was  reported^^  in  1879  as 
being  well  distributed  in  the  gardens  of  the  city  of  Sacramento,  and 
in  1892  as  being  commonly  grown  in  Butte  County,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Thermalito  and  Palermo.  The  loquat  tree  finds  a  congenial  home  in 
the  Gulf  States,  and  large  trees  are  found  in  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  and  even  as  far  north  as  North  Carolina, 
but  fruit  seldom  matures  in  the  latter  state.  Although  in  1887  P.  W. 
Reasoner-^  made  reference  to  a  very  profitable  orchard  in  Florida, 
recent  information  shows  that  the  loquat  is  not  grown  commercially 
in  that  state  at  the  present  time.  In  Georgia  the  loquat  is  used  as  an 
ornamental  plant,  but  it  rarely  matures  fruit. 

CLIMATIC  EEQUIREMENTS 

The  loquat  is  classed  as  a  semi-tropical  fruit,  its  successful  culture 
being  confined  to  regions  in  which  the  temperature  does  not  fall  below 
freezing.    For  ornamental  purposes  the  tree  may  be  grown  in  climates 


256  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

too  cold  for  the  development  of  the  fruit.  Small  trees  growing  at 
Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  are  not  injured  by  the  winter's  cold,  although 
the  temperature  may  fall  to  8°  or  10°  F.  several  nights  in  succession. 
G.  W.  Oliver  records^"  the  fact  that  young  plants  have  proved  hardy 
during  mild  winters  at  Washington,  D.  C,  but  when  the  temperature 
falls  to  zero  and  remains  for  any  length  of  time  the  plants  are 
injured  permanently.  At  Phoenix,  Arizona,  the  tree  itself  thrives 
remarkably  well,  as  it  does  also  in  the  Imperial  Valley.  We  do  not 
know  of  any  instance  of  frost  injury  to  loquat  branches  or  leaves  in 
California,  but  the  flowers  and  especially  the  fruit  are  often  seriously 
damaged.  Although  the  flowers  of  the  loquat  tree  appear  about  the 
time  that  frost  may  be  most  expected,  from  October  to  January,  the 
blossoms  are  seldom  injured  even  by  a  temperature  as  low  as  27°  F. 
Extensive  injury  to  blossoms  has  been  reported  only  during  the  ex- 
treme cold  of  1912-13,  although  several  seasons,  including  1895,  wit- 
nessed the  freezing  of  all  fruit  which  had  become  as  large  as  peas  or 
larger.  The  fruit  is  most  susceptible  to  injury  when  it  is  just  begin- 
ning to  color,  and  such  early  varieties  as  the  Early  Red  are  sometimes 
destroyed  when  later  varieties  escape.  Frost  coming  when  the  fruit 
is  less  than  half  grown  may  result  only  in  killing  the  seeds,  while  the 
flesh  continues  to  develop,  so  that  seedless  fruits  mature.  On  the 
other  hand,  frost  may  have  somewhat  the  same  effect  as  sunburn, 
injuring  the  tissues  and  causing  them  to  shrink  or  to  develop  irregu- 
larly. This  winter-blooming  and  fruit-setting  of  the  loquat  presents 
the  most  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  its  commercial  production  in 
California.  In  many  favored  sections  the  grower  may  be  reasonably 
certain  of  a  crop  each  season,  while  in  other  sections  frost  injury  is 
too  common  to  make  the  culture  of  the  loquat  a  profitable  venture. 
The  perfection  of  methods  of  orchard  heating  and  the  further  devel- 
opment of  heaters  so  that  they  may  be  more  economically  used  will 
enable  the  loquat  grower  to  protect  the  flowers  and  fruit  on  frosty 
nights. 

Loquat  trees  are  resistant  both  to  heat  and  to  drought.  The  thick, 
leathery  leaves  are  well  adapted  to  withstand  seasons  of  neglect  with- 
out serious  injury.  Loquat  fruits  grown  in  some  of  the  central  coast 
sections  of  California  where  fogs  and  cool  days  are  prevalent  often 
lack  the  flavor  and  sweetness  which  characterize  the  fruits  of  the 
same  variet}^  grown  farther  inland  or  along  the  coast  farther  south. 
Excessive  heat,  or  hot,  dry  winds  are  very  detrimental  during  the 
period  when  the  fruit  is  maturing,  as  it  is  very  liable  to  sunburn. 

The  branches  of  loquat  trees  are  not  easily  broken  by  high  winds 
unless  thev  are  bending  with  fruit.    In  Australia  the  trees  are  some- 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT     ^  257 

times  planted  along  the  borders  of  fields  to  serve  as  a  low  windbreak. 
Border  fruit  trees  such  as  the  fig  in  Fresno  County  and  the  pome- 
granate in  Tulare  County  are  often  quite  profitable.  In  favorable 
localities  good  varieties  of  the  loquat  might  be  planted  as  border  trees 
and  good  crops  of  fruit  secured  at  a  season  when  other  fruits  are  not 
plentiful.  For  such  planting  the  trees  should  be  set  about  twelve 
feet  apart. 

PROPAGATION 

Seed. — Propagation  of  the  loquat  by  seed  is  simple.  The  seed 
germinates  readily  and  the  seedlings  grow  rapidly.  Some  nurseries 
in  Florida  and  California  are  still  handling  seedling  trees,  which  are 
of  course  saisfactory  for  ornamental  purposes.  The  sale  of  seedling 
loquat  trees  for  fruiting  purposes  is,  however,  no  more  justifiable  than 
the  sale  of  seedling  peach  or  apricot  trees.  Good  varieties  of  the  loquat 
are  now  available  and  budded  trees  alone  should  be  planted.  In 
addition  to  the  probability  of  bearing  poorer  fruit,  seedling  trees  are 
as  a  rule  slower  coming  into  bearing  than  budded  trees. 

Cuttings. — The  loquat  may  be  grown  from  cuttings,  although  this 
method  is  not  recommended  for  commercial  propapagation.  The  best 
time  of  the  year  to  make  cuttings  is  in  the  fall,  when  the  spring  growth 
has  become  well  hardened  and  is  more  or  less  dormant.  Only  wood 
of  the  present  season's  growth  should  be  used.  Cuttings  five  or  six 
inches  long  are  placed  under  glass  in  the  sand  of  an  ordinary  cutting 
bed  and  treated  like  hardwood  cuttings.  Bottom  heat  will  accelerate 
the  rooting,  but  it  is  not  necessary. 

Stocks. — The  following  stocks  have  been  used  at  various  times  and 
places  for  the  loquat :  hawthorn,  apple,  pear,  Mespihts  vulgaris,  Me- 
spilus  Germanica,  service-tree,  quince,  and  loquat.  Only  the  last  two 
are  recommended  for  commercial  use  in  this  state. 

The  quince  has  long  been  used  in  Europe  and  in  Japan  as  a  stock 
for  the  loquat.  In  Australia  its  use  is  reported  to  bring  the  loquat 
into  bearing  much  earlier.  A  few  nurseries  in  California  employ 
quince  stock  almost  exclusively,  but  it  is  not  used  to  any  extent  in 
Florida.  Here  it  does  not  seem  to  add  to  the  precociousness  of  the 
loquat,  as  trees  budded  on  loquat  stock  have  usually  proved  to  be 
sufficiently  precocious.  The  dwarfing  effect  of  the  quince  root  is  not 
so  pronounced  with  the  loquat  as  with  the  pear,  judging  from  the  size 
of  some  trees  thus  propagated.  Some  budders  find  that  the  quince 
stock  buds  very  readily  and  prefer  it  for  that  reason,  but  it  is  liable 
to  sucker  badly  and  may  prove  a  nuisance  in  that  respect.  Quince 
stock  is  grown  from  cuttings  made,  ordinarily  in  December,  of  well- 


258 


UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION 


hardened  wood  taken  from  a  strong  growing  variety  such  as  the 
Angers.  These  cuttings,  about  eight  inches  long,  are  rooted  in  well- 
prepared  field  beds  of  a  well-drained  sandy-loam  soil.     The  cuttings 

remain  in  the  cutting  bed  for  about 
one  year,  or  until  the  dormant  season, 
when  they  are  taken  up  and  planted 
out  in  regular  nursery  rows.  The 
stocks  are  ready  for  budding  the  fol- 
lowing August  or  September. 

The  loquat  itself  is  undoubtedly 
the  best  stock  for  the  tree  in  Cali- 
fornia. Young  trees  budded  on  loquat 
stock  often  come  into  bearing  the 
second  year  after  budding.  In  fact, 
bunches  of  fruit  are  often  seen  on 
budded  trees  still  in  the  nursery  row. 
Such  young  trees  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  carry  much  fruit,  however, 
as  the  first  two  or  three  years  should 
be  devoted  to  the  production  of  a 
strong  framework  upon  which  future 
crops  are  to  be  produced.  The  suc- 
cess of  hundreds  of  orchard  trees  in 
California  worked  on  loquat  stocks  is 
sufficient  evidence  that  this  stock  is 
well  adapted  to  our  soil  conditions.  The  difficulty  which  some  budders 
experience  in  budding  loquat  seedlings  seems  to  be  not  so  much  in 
getting  the  buds  to  set  as  in  forcing  the  buds  out  later  on,  a  difficulty 
which  may  be  overcome  by  cutting  off  the  tops  of  the  stocks  as  early 
as  possible,  so  that  the  bud  will  start  to  grow  with  the  first  flow  of 
sap  in  the  spring. 

Loquat  stocks  are  grown  from  the  seed,  which  germinate  readily 
if  they  are  not  allowed  to  dry  out  after  they  have  been  taken  from 
the  fruit.  Seeds  for  planting  are  preferably  selected  from  the  fruit 
of  vigorous,  healthy  trees  and  from  large,  well-developed  fruits.  If 
it  is  desirable  to  keep  the  seeds  for  any  length  of  time,  they  may  be 
stored  in  damp,  but  not  wet,  sand  or  sawdust  until  planting  time. 
The  seeds  may  be  planted  directly  in  four-inch  pots  or  they  may  be 
sprouted  in  wet  sand  or  sawdust  and  placed  in  pots  as  soon  as  the 
sprouts  appear.  By  the  latter  method  the  more  vigorous  seeds  can 
be  selected  and  a  more  uniform  lot  of  seedlings  secured.  One  inch 
is  sufficient  depth  for  planting  the  seed.     The  soil  does  not  need  to 


Fig.  1. — Loquat  budded  on  root- 
ed quince  cutting,  the  bud  starting 
into  growth. 


BULLHTIN  250 


THE   LOQUAT 


259 


be  rich ;  it  should  be  of  a  sandy  texture,  so  that  it  will  not  bake.  The 
seedlings  should  be  allowed  to  grow  in  the  pots  under  a  lath  house  or 
other  shelter  until  the  heaviest  spring  rains  are  over  and  the  soil  in 
the  nursery  row  is  in  good, 
condition  for  planting.  It  is 
advisable  to  transplant  them 
into  the  open  ground  in  the 
early  summer,  as  they  will 
make  more  growth  there  than 
in  pots.  The  seeds,  after 
sprouting  in  sand  or  even  be- 
fore, may  be  planted  at  once 
in  seed  beds  or  even  in  nur- 
sery rows  in  the  open  ground 
instead  of  in  pots  if  the  soil 
is  not  inclined  to  bake  and 
is  well  drained.  Trees  from 
seeds  planted  in  April  or  May 
should  be  large  enough  to  bud 
a  year  from  the  following  Oc- 
tober or  November.  Seedlings 
should  be  about  one-half  inch 
in  diameter  at  the  base  at  the 
time  of  budding. 

Budding. — The  method  of 
budding  loquat  trees  in  the  nursery  is  practically  the  same  as  that 
used  for  citrus  trees.  An  ordinary  shield  bud  is  inserted  in  the  fall 
of  the  year  when  the  bark  will  slip,  tied  with  waxed  cloth  and  allowed 
to  remain  dormant  until  early  spring.  It  is  customary  not  to  cut  off 
the  tops  of  citrus  trees  in  an  attempt  to  force  out  the  buds  until  March 
or  the  first  of  April,  but,  as  already  stated,  the  loquat  buds  should 
be  forced  out  earlier  by  cutting  the  stocks  back  an  inch  or  two  above 
the  bud  about  the  middle  of  January.  In  case  the  buds  fail  to  set,  a 
second  bud  can  be  placed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stock. 

Care  should  be  exercised  in  the  selection  of  buds.  They  should 
be  taken  from  well-matured  wood  of  the  previous  season 's  growth,  and 
not  from  tender,  succulent  growth.  If  the  wood  of  the  bud  slips  out 
readily,  it  may  be  removed,  but  this  is  not  essential  to  success.  Buds 
in  the  axils  of  mature  leaves  are  small  and  the  bases  of  the  leaf -stalks 
large ;  such  buds  are  difficult  to  use  successfully  and  should  be  rejected 
in  favor  of  the  naked  buds. 


Fij 


2. — Method  of  grafting  pot-grown  loquat 
seedling,  used  successfully  in  Georgia 


260  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

Grafting. — Propagation  by  grafting  is  sometimes  practiced  both 
in  this  state  and  elsewhere.  It  is  employed  both  in  India  and  Japan, 
according  to  letters  received  from  nurserymen  in  those  countries.  M. 
Sato  states  that  top-grafts,  cleft-grafts,  and  root-grafts  are  generally 
used  in  Japan,  G.  W.  Oliver  describes^"^  and  figures  a  method  of  side- 
grafting  six-months-old  seedlings  which  is  said  to  be  very  satisfactory 
and  can  be  used  on  seedlings  grown  in  pots  for  shipping  purposes. 
A  Georgia  nurseryman  uses  the  loquat  as  stock  and  grafts  pot-grown 
plants  very  successfully  by  a  form  of  cleft-graft,  as  shown  in  figure  2. 
A  prominent  loquat  grower  of  Southern  California  has  good  results 
in  whip-grafting  loquat  seedlings  in  the  nursery  row.  Such  grafted 
stocks  are  tender  and  should  be  sheltered  from  excessive  sunlight. 
One  disadvantage  of  such  a  method  is  that  in  case  of  failure  of  the 
scion  to  grow  the  operator  has  little  chance  to  regraft  the  same  stock, 
whereas  in  budding  there  is  always  an  opportunity  to  place  a  second 
or  even  a  third  bud  if  the  first  fails  to  set. 

SOILS  AND  SITUATIONS 
In  California  the  loquat  tree  has  not  shown  itself  particular  as  to 
soil  conditions,  since  it  thrives  in  a  great  variety  of  soil  types.  In 
Orange  County  better  results  are  obtained  and  the  fruit  is  of  better 
quality  on  the  lighter  gravelly  soil  mixed  with  adobe  than  on  the 
heavier  soil.  Excellent  crops  are  produced  near  Placentia  in  a  fine 
sandy  loam,  which  is  easily  kept  in  a  good  condition  of  cultivation 
and  fertility.  In  shallow  soil  near  Santa  Barbara  the  loquat  trees  are 
small  but  thrifty  and  bear  good  fruit  every  season.  In  deeper  soil 
in  the  same  locality  the  trees  are  more  than  twice  as  large  and  bear 
correspondingly  larger  crops.  It  is  not  advisable  to  plant  loquat  trees 
for  commercial  purposes  on  shallow  soil ;  there  should  be  at  least  four 
or  five  feet  of  good  soil.  Hardpan  near  the  surface  should  be  broken 
up  with  dynamite  before  planting.  In  Florida  a  very  rich,  moist 
soil  is  said  to  be  most  favorable  for  the  perfect  development  of  the 
tree,  though  such  soil  must  be  perfectly  drained,  as  excess  of  water 
about  the  roots  is  fatal.  The  loquat  tree  grows  on  a  comparatively 
wide  range  of  soils  in  Japan,  doing  best  in  sandy  loam.  In  California, 
as  in  Japan,  the  trees  produce  more  and  better  flavored  fruits  on 
rather  dry  soil  than  on  well-irrigated  land.  In  the  latter  conditions 
the  total  number  of  fruits  is  slightly  less  and  the  fruit  is  well  devel- 
oped with  thick  flesh,  but  the  rich  flavor  is  lacking.  It  is  an  accepted 
fact  that  seedling  loquat  trees  planted  in  rich  soil  are  very  slow  coming 
into  bearing,  the  strong,  vigorous  growth  being  at  the  expense  of 
fruitfulness. 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  261 

On  account  of  the  liability  of  the  flowers  and  young  fruit  of  the 
loquat  to  frost  damage,  only  those  sites  which  have  good  air  drain ao^e 
and  which  are  comparatively  free  from  killing  frosts  should  be  selected 
for  a  commercial  orchard.  Slightly  elevated  land  with  a  southern  or 
western  exposure  is  often  desirable.  Wherever  lemons  are  produced 
successfully  throughout  the  year  loquats  ought  to  thrive.  Reference 
has  already  been  made  to  the  planting  of  loquat  orchards  directly 
on  the  sea  coast  of  other  countries.  Such  plantings  are  advisable  in 
California  only  in  those  parts  of  the  southern  coast  counties  where 
there  is  sufficient  sunshine  and  heat  to  mature  the  crop  for  an  early 
market,  as  at  such  a  time  the  markets  are  not  crowded  with  other  fruits. 

OECHAED  MANAGEMENT 

In  California  loquat  trees  are  balled  at  the  time  of  transplanting 
from  the  nursery.  They  may  be  transplanted  with  bare  roots,  but 
the  extra  labor  and  expense  of  balling  wall  be  well  repaid  by  the  earlier 
recovery  from  the  shock  and  the  more  rapid  pushing  into  growth. 
Balling  is  always  advisable  if  nursery  trees  are  to  be  shipped  any 
distance.  For  shipping  great  distances,  the  trees  should  be  cut  back 
severely,  leaving  short  stubs  for  the  primary  branches;  the  plants, 
with  roots  bare,  may  then  be  packed  carefully  in  damp  sphagnum 
moss  and  shipped  in  a  burlap  wrapper  or  in  a  crate  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible.  Some  of  the  lower  and  older  leaves  should  be 
removed  entirely  and  the  rest  cut  back  one-half,  so  as  to  check  evap- 
oration. The  best  time  to  transplant  the  trees  is  in  the  spring  during 
March  or  April,  when  they  are  somewhat  dormant,  although  they  can 
be  safely  moved  in  September  or  October. 

Loquat  trees  in  orchard  form  should  be  planted  not  closer  than 
twenty-two  feet  apart  by  the  square  system.  The  same  distance  should 
be  used  if  planting  in  equilateral  triangles  or  by  the  hexagonal  system, 
which  consists  of  six  trees  enclosing  a  seventh.  In  sections  where 
the  trees  habitually  overbear,  a  common  practice  is  to  crowd  the  trees 
into  rows  twenty- four  feet  apart,  with  the  trees  twelve  feet  apart  in 
the  row,  a  practice  which  helps  to  dwarf  the  tree  and  produce  more 
uniform  and  regular  crops.  The  wide  space  between  the  rows  gives 
ample  room  for  the  growth  of  cover  crops,  for  thorough  cultivation 
and  for  the  harvesting  of  the  fruit.  While  at  first  thought  it  might 
seem  that  such  wide  spacing  is  wasteful,  we  must  remember  that  the 
soil  in  this  space  is  full  of  feeding  roots  and  that  the  growth  of  cover 
crops  or  the  application  of  humus-forming  materials  over  this  surface 
helps  to  keep  the  trees  in  a  thrifty  condition.  If  the  trees  are  planted 
twenty-two  by  twenty-two  feet,  each  tree  will  have  at  least  484  square 


262 


UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  263 

feet  of  feeding  surface.  If  planted  twelve  by  twenty-four  feet,  each 
tree  will  have  at  least  288  square  feet  of  feeding  surface.  In  the 
former  case  approximately  90  trees,  in  the  latter  approximately  151 
trees  will  occupy  an  acre.  The  smaller  size  of  the  trees  in  the  closer 
planting  is  a  distinct  advantage,  especially  in  picking  the  fruit,  which 
can  all  be  gathered  from  the  ground  or  from  a  short  stepladder. 

The  great  size  of  many  old  seedling  loquat  trees  in  California  may 
convince  some  that  trees  should  be  given  sufficient  room  in  the  orchard 
to  attain  the  same  size  there.  But  such  trees  have  usually  grown  to 
great  size  at  the  expense  of  fruitfulness.  They  have  never  been 
systematically  pruned  or  otherwise  cared  for,  but  have  been  allowed 
to  grow  as  they  might.  For  commercial  purposes,  the  grower  of  course 
desires  to  get  the  greatest  amount  of  marketable  fruit  possible.  That 
this  may  be  done  most  economically  by  crowding  the  trees  has  been 
demonstrated  in  more  than  one  orchard  in  Orange  County. 

The  loquat  tree  is  well  adapted  to  interplanting  with  other  fruit 
trees.  If  budded  trees  are  planted  they  come  into  bearing  early  and 
good  profits  may  be  realized  from  the  sale  of  fruit  before  it  is  necessary 
to  remove  the  trees.  A  ranch  in  San  Diego  County  has  recently  been 
interplanted  with  loquats  and  avocados,  the  latter  to  be  permanent. 
Loquat  trees  may  be  planted  advantageously  in  young  walnut  orchards 
if  climatic  conditions  are  favorable. 

Culture. — The  culture  of  a  loquat  orchard  differs  in  a  few  points 
from  that  of  other  orchards.  The  soil  should  of  course  be  kept  in 
good  physical  condition  by  thorough  cultivation,  by  the  addition  of 
organic  matter,  and  by  sufficient  irrigation.  The  harvesting  season  is 
the  reverse  of  that  of  most  of  our  common  fruits,  coming  in  the  spring 
instead  of  in  the  fall.  Clean  culture  may  be  practiced  throughout  the 
season,  but  the  growth  of  either  a  winter  or  summer  leguminous  cover 
crop  is  much  more  advisable.  In  the  latter  case,  the  natural  vegetation 
of  the  winter  season  is  allowed  to  grow,  being  cut  with  a  mower  if 
it  becomes  too  tall,  but  not  plowed  under  until  the  fruit  is  all  picked. 
The  ground  should  then  be  thoroughly  cultivated  and  if  sufficient 
water  is  available  a  summer  cover  crop  such  as  buckwheat  or  the 
whippoorwill  cowpea  planted.  Winter  cover  crops  may  be  planted 
as  early  as  September,  in  which  case  they  may  have  made  sufficient 
growth  to  be  turned  under  before  the  harvest  begins.  This  is  not 
always  possible,  especially  if  an  early  variety  of  loquat  is  grown;  in 
fact,  it  is  a  question  whether  it  is  advisable  to  plow  and  work  the 
ground  deeply  or  at  all  during  the  setting  and  maturing  of  the  fruit. 
It  will  be  necessary  then  to  allow  the  cover  crop  to  remain  on  the 
ground  while  the  fruit  is  being  harvested,  a  course  which  is  open  to 


264  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION 

the  possible  objection  that  the  stems  of  such  plants  as  burr  clover  or 
vetch  become  woody  and  do  not  decay  so  readily  when  plowed  under. 
This  may  be  an  advantage  in  aerating  and  loosening  heavy  soils,  but 
not  so  advantageous  in  a  light  sandy  soil,  particularly  if  water  is  scarce. 

Fertilization. — The  loquat  tree  naturally  produces  heavy,  luxuriant 
foliage  and  a  large  amount  of  fruit.  It  is  seldom  a  shy  bearer.  Cali- 
fornia soils  are  usually  rich  in  plant  food  and  orchards  will  not  ordi- 
narily^ require  much  additional  plant  food  during  the  first  few  years. 
When  the  trees  begin  to  bear  heavy  crops,  however,  plant  food  in  one 
form  or  another  should  be  supplied.  When  the  average  California 
soil  begins  to  fail  from  heavy  production,  nitrogen  is  likely  to  be  the 
first  crop  limiter,  after  nitrogen  phosphoric  acid,  and  after  phosphoric 
acid  potash.  The  addition  of  nitrogen  by  leguminous  cover  crops  has 
already  been  advised.  The  proper  amounts  of  mineral  fertilizers  for 
loquat  orchards  will  have  to  be  worked  out  to  a  certain  extent  by  each 
grower  on  his  own  place  and  under  his  own  local  conditions.  The 
grower  should  maintain  the  soil  in  good  phj^sical  condition,  for  even 
though  the  food  elements  are  present  in  sufficient  quantities,  the  plant 
cannot  use  them  if  soil  conditions  are  unfavorable  to  the  development 
of  a  vigorous  and  healthy  root  system. 

A  writer  from  South  Africa^^  states  that,  so  far  as  he  knows,  there 
is  no  fruit  tree  which  will  so  cheerfully  respond  to  all  you  give  it, 
hence  a  liberal  application  of  old,  well-rotted  manure  applied  yearly 
in  early  winter  will  have  the  effect  of  improving  greatly  both  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  the  crop.  He  further  states  that  he  could 
give  many  instances  where  the  fruit  of  an  ordinary  loquat  tree  has 
increased  to  four  times  its  usual  size  after  pruning  and  liberal  manur- 
ing. In  Japan  stable  manure,  litter,  and  weeds  from  the  roadsides 
or  meadows  are  often  used  and  the  use  of  commercial  fertilizers  is 
extending.  Growers  in  California  should  seize  every  opportunity  to 
obtain  barnyard  manure  and  apply  it  liberally,  at  least  fifteen  cubic 
feet  being  placed  around  every  tree  every  other  year.  Other  hnmus- 
forming  materials  such  as  alfalfa  hay,  grain  or  bean  straw  can  often 
be  used  to  great  advantage  in  loquat  orchards. 

Irrigation. — The  amount  of  water  required  by  loquat  trees  is  about 
the  same  as  or  a  little  less  than  that  required  for  citrus  trees.  Along 
the  coast  this  will  be  about  one  and  one-fourth  miner's  inches  to  ten 
acres,  while  farther  inland  three  miner's  inches  should  be  available. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  on  account  of  the  natural  hardiness  of 
the  tree  and  its  ability  to  withstand  dry  seasons  better  than  some  other 
trees  summer  irrigations  will  not  be  necessary.     There  must  be  suffi- 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  265 

cient  water  in  the  soil  to  enable  the  shoots  of  the  season  to  develop  and 
mature  and  the  strong,  terminal,  fruiting  buds  to  fill  out  properly. 
As  the  trees  blossom  early,  frequently  in  October  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, a  good  irrigation  should  be  given  just  before  or  during  the 
swelling  of  the  blossom  buds.  If  the  winter  rains  do  not  come  at  the 
proper  time  or  in  sufficient  quantity,  they  should  be  supplemented  by 
irrigation.  Where  several  varieties  are  grown,  the  picking  season  may 
extend  from  the  latter  part  of  February  to  the  middle  of  June,  and 
during  this  period  two  or  three  irrigations  are  generally  advisable. 
The  grower  should  keep  himself  informed  as  to  the  moisture  conditions 
by  examining  the  soil  to  a  depth  of  three  or  four  feet  at  frequent 
intervals  and  provide  water  accordingly. 

Pruning  and  Top  Working. — Loquat  trees  should  be  properly 
headed  in  the  nursery  row.  For  California  conditions  a  low  head  is 
advisable.  Most  of  the  budded  trees  branch  out  naturally  and  form 
more  or  less  symmetrical  heads,  so  that  little  if  any  pruning  is  neces- 
sary. Occasional  trees  make  a  strong  upright  growth  four  or  five 
feet  high  without  forming  any  lateral  branches ;  such  trees  should  be 
headed  at  about  thirty-six  inches  and  an  attempt  made  to  develop  the 
five  main  branches  at  intervals  along  the  upper  eighteen  inches  of 
trunk  rather  than  to  crowd  them  near  the  top.  The  pruning  of  bear- 
ing trees  has  been  very  little  practiced  by  California  growers  up  to 
the  present  time.  The  removal  of  dead  and  broken  branches  is  about 
all  that  has  been  done.  It  is  becoming  recognized,  however,  that  some 
pruning  will  have  to  be  done  if  the  trees  are  to  be  kept  in  shape  and 
maximum  crops  produced.  They  should  be  thinned  out  a  little  every 
year  and  should  be  encouraged  to  throw  out  vigorous  shoots  which 
will  gradually  renew  the  top  and  keep  the  tree  in  a  healthy  condition. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  flower  buds  are  produced  at  the  tip  of 
the  season 's  growth.  These  bear  at  their  bases  other  buds  which  form 
a  whorl  of  branches  surrounding  the  flower  cluster  and  the  developing 
fruit.  Such  branches  should  not  be  simply  clipped  or  shortened  back 
if  too  thick,  but  should  be  severed  at  their  junction  with  the  mother 
limb,  an  operation  which  will  lessen  the  labor  required  for  the  tedious 
thinning  of  the  fruit  later  on.  All  dead  and  dry  flower  clusters  should 
be  removed.  The  best  time  for  pruning  is  during  the  summer  after 
the  crop  has  been  harvested. 

In  California  large  crops  of  good  fruit  are  often  produced  on  old 
seedling  loquat  trees,  which  only  require  care  and  some  thinning  of 
the  fruit  to  make  them  profltable  from  a  commercial  standpoint.  ^V 
large  percentage  of  seedling  trees,  however,  are  unprofitable,  and  such 


266  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION 

trees,  if  healthy,  should  be  worked  over  to  some  standard  variety  by 
one  of  the  following  methods  which  experience  has  shown  to  be  suc- 
cessful. One  method  largely  used  in  Orange  County  is  that  of  shield 
budding  into  new  wood  forced  out  by  cutting  back  the  tree  more  or 
less  severely  at  the  beginning  of  the  growing  season  in  September 
or  October.  A  year  from  the  time  of  cutting  back  a  large  bud  taken 
from  mature  wood  of  the  previous  season's  growth  is  inserted  near 
the  base  of  each  branch,  whenever  the  bark  slips  readily,  and  firmly 
wrapped  with  waxed  cloth.  If  at  the  end  of  three  or  four  weeks  the 
buds  have  united,  the  branch  should  be  broken  or  cut  off  a  foot  or 
more  above  the  bud  in  order  to  force  it  into  growth.  Later  the  stub 
is  sawed  off  close  up  to  the  bud  and  the  wound  waxed  over  or  painted. 
By  this  method,  however,  a  year's  time  is  consumed  in  waiting  for 
the  growth  of  the  new  wood,  a  delay  which  may  be  overcome  by  bark- 
grafting  into  the  main  branches  sawed  off  in  spring  or  early  summer 
a  foot  or  more  above  their  union  with  the  trunk.  Bark-grafting  seems 
to  be  more  successful  with  the  loquat  than  cleft-grafting.  Scions 
with  at  least  two  good  buds  should  be  selected  from  well-matured 
wood  of  the  previous  season's  growth.  These  are  prepared  with  a 
long,  slanting  cut  at  the  base  and  pushed  carefully  into  a  slit  in  the 
bark  of  the  stock  until  they  begin  to  split  their  own  way  down,  and 
are  thus  firmly  placed.  The  head  of  the  stock  is  then  tightly  wrapped 
with  waxed  cloth  and  all  exposed  wood  on  stock  and  scion  covered 
with  grafting  wax  as  a  protection  from  drying  out  and  decay.  White- 
washing the  trunk  and  stubs  of  branches  is  an  additional  protection 
against  sunburn. 

Thinning. — Loquat  trees  are,  as  a  rule,  exceedingly  prolific  and 
their  natural  tendency  is  to  bear  large  crops  of  fruit  at  the  expense  of 
size  and  quality.  Some  growers  overcome  this  difficulty  to  a  certain 
extent  by  crowding  the  trees  in  the  orchard,  as  has  already  been 
explained.  The  thinning  of  other  fruits  has  been  found  to  be  profit- 
able and  should  be  more  largely  practiced  with  the  loquat,  especially 
in  such  seasons  as  1914,  when  an  enormous  crop  wa^  harvested,  but 
low  prices  were  received  on  account  of  the  small  size  of  the  fruit. 
The  unprecedented  low  temperatures  of  the  winter  of  1912-13  acted 
as  a  thinning  agent  and  the  succeeding  crop  was  small,  but  both  the 
fruit  and  the  prices  were  exceptionally  good.  Since  the  fruit  grows 
in  clusters,  it  would  be  impracticable  to  thin  out  such  clusters  so  that 
each  fruit  would  have  a  certain  amount  of  space  in  which  to  develop, 
as  is  sometimes  advocated  for  deciduous  fruits.  It  will  therefore  be 
sufficient  to  clip  out  the  ends  of  the  bunches  with  a  pair  of  thinning 
shears  whenever  they  are  too  heavy  or  the  branches  are  liable  to  be 


Bulletin  250 


THE    LOQUAT 


267 


5* 

crq 


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crc3 

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O 


268  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

overloaded.  This  is  particularly  advocated  with  certain  varieties,  the 
bunches  of  which,  on  young  trees  at  least,  are  very  large  and  often 
break  off  before  the  fruit  matures.  The  thinning  should  be  done 
when  the  fruits  are  less  than  one-half  inch  in  diameter. 

Bagging. — A  Japanese  writer^^  states  that  by  the  practice  of  bag- 
ging the  "growth  of  fruit  is  favored  and  the  ripening  is  accelerated 
several  days.  Moreover,  the  skin  remains  very  thin  and  delicate  and 
the  fruits  are  larger  in  size  and,  above  all,  they  are  more  uniform 
whether  exposed  or  in  shade,  a  point  of  high  importance  in  the 
market."  Bagging  is  regarded  as  the  simplest,  most  economical  and 
most  effective  means  for  the  protection  of  the  fruit  from  insects  and 
birds.  A  skillful  workman  can  place  1500-2000  bags  a  day.  Small 
paper  bags  made  of  old  newspapers  or  of  "mino-gami,"  a  strong 
Japanese  paper,  are  used. 

In  California,  so  far  as  we  know,  only  one  grower  has  practiced 
bagging  to  any  extent.  The  bags  used  are  made  from  a  good  grade 
of  muslin,  which  costs  by  the  bolt  about  6  cents  per  yard.  Average 
bags  that  will  cover  large  bunches  can  be  made  for  about  l^/o  cents 
each,  and  if  carefully  handled  Avill  last  six  seasons.  Cheese  cloth 
does  not  give  sufficient  protection  from  the  birds,  which  soon  tear  the 
bags  by  pecking  at  the  fruit.  Strong  paper  bags  may  prove  to  be 
economical,  but  are  not  so  durable  as  those  of  muslin.  Bagging  is 
begun  when  the  fruit  is  from  one-half  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  although  in  some  seasons  it  may  be  delayed  until  the  fruit 
begins  to  color.  When  the  spring  season  is  warm  and  dry,  bagging 
commences  earlier,  as  the  fruit  is  somewhat  sensitive  to  heat.  During 
the  harvesting  season  the  bags  can  be  shifted  from  the  clusters  which 
are  picked  to  other  clusters  which  are  still  immature.  While  bagging 
is  recommended  as  a  means  of  improving  the  quality  of  the  fruit  and 
protecting  it  from  injury,  it  may  not  prove  profitable  in  extensive 
orchards.    Its  advisability  is  largely  dependent  upon  the  cost  of  labor. 


HARVESTING,  PACKING,  AND  MARKETING 

Loquats  should  be  left  on  the  tree  until  they  are  fully  matured 
and  the  maximum  amount  of  sugar  is  developed.  If  the  fruit  is  not 
picked  for  about  ten  days  after  the  color  is  well  developed,  the  flavor 
will  be  greatly  improved  and  the  shipping  quality  not  seriously  in- 
jured.* Nothing  is  more  apt  to  injure  the  market  for  fresh  fruit  than 
the  shipment  of  immature,  green  fruit  in  order  to  obtain  the  higher 


*  Some  loquats  will  decay  or  drop  off  as  soon  as  mature,  but  the  fruit  of  most 
varieties  will  continue  to  hang  on  the  tree  and  will  eventually  shrivel  and  dry  up. 


Bulletin  250 


THE    LOQUAT 


269 


prices  of  the  early  season.  This  is  particularly  true  of  loquats,  which 
are  excellent  when  fully  ripe  but  very  disappointing  when  only  par- 
tially ripe.  The  fruit  in  a  cluster  usually  matures  uniformly,  so  that 
the  entire  cluster  may  be  cut  at  once,  but  in  some  cases  where  the 
fruit  at  the  base  ripens  before  that  at  the  tip  of  the  cluster  the  pickers 
will  have  to  use  judgment  as  to  what  fruit  should  be  cut  and  what 
should  be  left.  A  little  experience  will  soon  enable  the  pickers  to 
judge  from  the  color  of  the  fruit  the  proper  degree  of  maturity. 


Fig.  5. — A  single  cluster  of  the  Champagne  loquat 


270  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

The  fruit  should  never  be  pulled  from  the  tree  by  hand,  as  the 
stem  would  separate  from  the  flesh  and  cause  decay  to  set  in  at  once. 
A  pair  of  round-pointed  fruit  clippers  such  as  are  commonly  used  in 
gathering  oranges  and  lemons  should  be  used  for  clipping  the  bunches 
and  grading  the  fruit.  The  bunches  are  placed  carefully  in  baskets, 
which  when  full  are  carried  to  convenient  trees,  in  the  shade  of  which 
the  fruit  is  sorted  and  placed  in  boxes.  The  amount  of  fruit  picked 
depends  upon  the  size  of  the  bunches  and  of  the  individual  fruits, 
varying  from  20  to  30  boxes  a  day,  or  600  to  900  pounds  of  fruit.  The 
best  pickers  will  average  800  to  1000  pounds  a  day. 

Ordinarily  only  two  grades  of  fruit  are  made,  the  largest  and 
finest  fruit  which  is  free  from  defects  being  placed  in  one  box  while 
all  the  remaining  fruit  which  is  at  all  fit  for  market  is  dropped  into 
the  second  box.  Three  grades  can  often  profitably  be  made:  the  first 
consisting  of  only  the  best  or  fancy  fruit,  the  second  of  choice  or 
standard  fruit  for  the  ordinary  market,  and  the  third  of  undersized 
and  misshapen  fruit  to  be  sold  for  jelly,  jam  or  other  by-products. 
All  superfluous  stems  should  be  clipped  off  and  all  badly  bruised, 
shriveled  or  scarred  fruit  thrown  out.  Inspection  of  the  hundreds 
of  boxes  of  loquats  in  a  Los  Angeles  commission  house  on  one  or  two 
days  of  the  1914  season  certainly  showed  the  need  of  more  careful 
grading.  In  some  boxes  all  sizes  of  fruit  could  be  found,  while  in 
others  a  rather  large  proportion  should  never  have  been  shipped  to 
market  at  all.  Such  careless  grading  is  a  hindrance  to  the  develop- 
ment of  a  good  market. 

Much  of  the  loquat  crop  in  Orange  County  is  now  hauled  to  Los 
Angeles  daily  by  motor  truck.  About  nine  growers  co-operate  and 
the  fruit  is  practicall}^  all  shipped  to  one  commission  house.  The 
fruit  requires  no  special  packing,  a  paper  being  placed  in  the  bottom 
of  each  box,  which  is  then  filled  with  the  sorted  fruit  and  shipped 
without  a  cover.  Choice  fruit  should,  however,  receive  better  handling 
and  packing.  One  grower,  who  ships  by  express,  packs  the  fruit 
largely  in  half -size  orange  boxes,  Bermuda  grass  and  newspapers  being 
used  for  packing.  Doubtless  fancy  fruit  packed  carefully  in  small 
baskets  or  special  cartons  with  an  attractive  label  would  bring  more 
remunerative  prices  should  a  special  market  be  developed.  In  some 
markets  the  fruit  is  seen  packed  in  the  small  square  fruit  baskets, 
such  as  are  commonly  used  for  plums,  grapes  or  tomatoes,  and  is  much 
more  attractive  than  when  loosely  bunched  on  the  fruit  stand. 

Experimental  shipments  of  loquats  have  been  made  to  eastern 
cities  with  excellent  results  so  far  as  the  shipping  was  concerned. 
Until  a  larger  acreage  is  planted,  however,  and  shipments  made  on  a 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  271 

much  larger  scale  the  home  markets  will  be  found  more  profitable. 
A  demand  for  new  fruits  must  be  created  before  a  market  is  assured. 
Such  a  demand  has  already  been  created  in  Los  Angeles  during  the 
past  ten  years,  and  every  spring  the  buyers,  both  wholesale  and  retail, 
know  what  to  expect  and  are  prepared  to  handle  large  quantities  of 
the  fruit.  A  single  commission  firm  often  handles  daily  as  many  as 
four  hundred  boxes  of  twenty-five  pounds  capacity  each.  In  San 
Francisco,  the  largest  market  for  loquats  is  among  the  Orientals,  who 
have  known  the  fruit  in  their  native  countries. 

Yields  and  Returns. — Loquat  trees  should  begin  to  bear  profitably 
at  the  age  of  five  years.  A  ten-year-old  tree  should  produce  200  pounds 
of  marketable  fruit.  A  fourteen-acre  orchard  in  Orange  County,  with 
the  trees  mostly  set  12  by  24  feet,  produced  in  1912  about  65  tons  of 
fruit,  in  1913  only  40  tons  on  account  of  frost,  and  in  1914,  a  season 
of  very  heavy  bearing,  80  tons  of  good  fruit.  The  average  price 
received  by  the  grower  has  been  about  5  cents  a  pound.  A  study  of 
the  Los  Angeles  market  quotations  during  the  past  three  years  shows 
that  the  lowest  price  for  loquats  was  2  cents  on  June  4,  1914,  while 
the  highest  was  20  cents,  on  March  27,  1913.  Earlier  in  the  season 
the  price  has  been  as  high  as  35  cents  a  pound,  and  the  advantage 
of  growing  early  fruit  is  thus  apparent.  The  best  grade  of  the  Thales 
loquat  brings  10  cents  a  pound  to  the  grower,  while  the  second  grade 
is  sold  locally  in  lug  boxes  at  from  3  to  5  cents. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  ''Does  loquat  culture  really  pay?"  it 
can  truthfully  be  said  that  it  does,  and  also  that  it  does  not.  Some 
growers  have  made  it  very  profitable,  while  others  have  lost  money 
and  are  trying  either  to  sell  or  preparing  to  plant  some  other  crop. 
The  largest  grower  in  Orange  County  considers  that  loquats  should 
pay  from  $300  to  $500  gross  per  acre,  returns  which  compare  favor- 
ably with  those  from  many  other  tree  fruits.  Loquats  should  be 
profitable  if  the  grower  plants  good  varieties  in  a  location  reasonably 
free  from  frost,  w^here  the  fruit  matures  early.  He  should  cultivate, 
irrigate,  and  otherwise  care  for  the  trees  properly  and  use  good  busi- 
ness judgment  in  marketing  the  fruit. 

By-products. — A  large  part  of  the  loquat  crop  is  now  sold  for  fresh 
consumption.  There  is  a  great  demand,  however,  for  fruit  to  be  used 
in  making  jellies,  jams,  preserves,  pies,  and  for  canning.  Loquat  jelly 
has  a  notable  reputation  for  its  quality,  and  more  than  one  firm  in 
Los  Angeles  manufactures  such  jelly,  although  not  yet  in  any  great 
quantity.  One  firm  writes  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  people  to  use 
new  varieties  of  fruits  put  up  in  jellies  and  jams,  since  they  prefer 
the  currant  and  other  fruits  which  they  have  always  known  and  which 


272  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

are  perfectly  satisfactory  to  them.  The  market  for  such  a  product 
needs  development  just  as  it  does  for  any  other  new  product.  Fruit 
for  jelly  making"  should  not  be  picked  too  ripe ;  some  of  the  more  acid 
varieties  can  be  used  for  this  purpose. 

In  Japan  the  manufacture  of  wine  from  loquats  is  practiced  to 
some  extent,  according  to  Takahashi.^^  The  Japanese  also  make  syrup 
preserves,  preferring  the  varieties  with  yellow  flesh  for  this  purpose. 
For  canning  the  Mogi,  Kusunoki.  Tanaka  and  Dohi  are  said  to  be 
suitable  varieties.  The  Tanaka  and  Dohi  are  rather  too  sour  for  fresh 
use  and  are  more  appreciated  when  preserved.  The  Kagoshima  White 
has  excellent  flavor,  but  the  fruit  is  a  little  too  small  for  canning. 

VAEIETIES 

The  list  of  varieties  of  loquats  is  not  long  when  compared  with  the 
lists  of  varieties  of  such  fruits  as  the  apple  or  pear.  The  names  of 
forty-six  Japanese  varieties  were  published  by  T.  Ikeda  in  "The  Fruit 
Culture  in  Japan,"  and  about  fifty  varieties  have  been  described  in 
California  and  other  countries.  As  long  ago  as  1908  Mr.  C.  P.  Taft 
of  Orange  wrote*^  that  some  of  the  many  seedlings  which  he  had 
fruited  were  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  in  California  and  so 
far  as  he  could  find  even  the  best  in  the  world,  a  statement  which  has 
been  substantiated  recently  by  a  letter  received  from  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  which  states  that  the  Office  of  Foreign  Seed  and  Plant 
Introduction  has  brought  in  a  number  of  varieties  from  time  to  time, 
but  has  not  obtained  any  superior  to  those  developed  by  Mr.  Taft. 
In  Italy  a  number  of  varieties  have  been  developed  by  Dr.  Sprenger 
and  others,  while  in  Algeria  Dr.  Trabut  has  been  instrumental  in 
extending  the  culture  of  the  loquat,  in  introducing  varieties  from 
other  countries  and  in  the  improvement  of  varieties  already  grown. 
In  an  article*^  published  by  Dr.  Trabut  in  1908,  the  varieties  of  loquats 
were  classified  into  two  groups,  the  classification  being  based  upon  the 
color  of  the  flesh,  those  having  crisp,  white  flesh  constituting  one  group 
and  those  having  orange,  or  yellow  flesh,  the  second  group.  This 
classification  will  hold  in  most  cases,  although  many  intermediate 
forms  will  be  found. 

The  characteristics  of  a  good  loquat  which  should  be  sought  in  new 
varieties  may  be  enumerated  as  follows : 

1.  Size. — Although  size  is  somewhat  dependent  upon  the  season 
and  the  amount  of  fruit  on  the  tree,  it  varies  widely  in  different 
varieties,  and  as  a  premium  is  paid  for  the  larger  specimens  size  is 
an  important  factor  in  the  line  of  improvement. 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  273 

2.  Quality  and  Flavor. — Quality  should  not  be  sacrificed  for  the 
sake  of  size.  Some  of  the  large  varieties  now  on  the  market  are  rather 
deficient  in  flavor.  They  bring  a  good  price  on  account  of  their  size 
and  appearance,  but  compare  unfavorably^  with  some  of  the  much 
smaller  fruit  in  qualitj^ 

3.  Color. — While  loquats  vary  considerably,  a  good  variety  should 
have  a  clear,  attractive  color.  In  general,  a  rich  orange-red  is  more 
pleasing,  although  a  clear,  lemon-yellow  is  very  characteristic  and 
presents  a  good  appearance  on  the  market. 

4.  Seeds. — The  reduction  in  the  number  and  size  of  the  seeds  is  a 
great  desirability  and  small-seeded  fruits  with  thick  flesh  should  be 
sought  for. 

5.  Aro7na. — An  aroma  would  add  greatly  to  the  good  qualities  of 
the  loquat  fruit.  This  quality  is  not  present  to  any  extent  in  the 
California  varieties,  although  it  could  probably  be  readily  introduced 
into  the  better  kinds  by  crossing  with  some  of  the  foreign  varieties, 
several  of  which  are  described  as  more  or  less  aromatic. 

6.  Sliipping  Quality. — For  commercial  purposes  the  fruit  should 
stand  shipment  to  distant  markets.  It  must  have  firm  flesh,  rather 
tough  skin,  and  a  stem  which  does  not  separate  readily  from  the  flesh. 

7.  Resistance  to  Disease. — A  variety  should  be  resistant  to  disease, 
especially  to  the  pear  blight.  One  or  two  otherwise  good  varieties 
have  been  discarded  in  California  because  of  their  susceptiblity  to 
blight. 

8.  Earliness. — Loquats  must  be  early  in  order  to  command  good 
prices,  since  in  June  they  come  into  competition  with  other  fruits  and 
the  demand  decreases.  The  earliest  fruits,  however,  are  most  liable 
to  frost  damage  and  should  be  grown  only  in  practically  frostless 
locations  or  in  orchards  which  can  be  protected  by  artiflcial  means. 

The  following  list  of  varieties  includes  all  which  have  originated 
in  California  and  a  few  which  have  been  introduced  or  may  be  worthy 
of  introduction.  It  should  be  stated  that  the  descriptions  of  many 
of  the  varieties  were  made  from  fruit  grown  in  the  spring  of  1914, 
when  the  crop  was  exceptionally  large,  but  the  sizes  of  individiual 
fruits  much  smaller  than  usual. 

Advance. — This  variety,  selected  in  1897  by  C.  P.  Taft  of  Orange,  California, 
from  fifty  seedlings  which  he  had  planted,  far  excelled  most  of  the  others  in 
size,  prolificness  and  beauty  of  clusters.  It  has  since  proved  to  be  very  pro- 
ductive, and  many  trees  are  being  propagated  not  only  in  California  but  in 
various  foreign  countries.  The  clusters  of  fruit  are  very  large,  often  containing 
as  many  as  twenty  perfect  specimens.     A  short  account  and  a  colored  plate  of 


274  UNIVERSITY   OP    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

the  Advance  are  given  in  the  U.  S.  D.  A.  Yearbook  for  1901.  It  was  first 
described  in  the  Pacific  Eural  Press,  May  6,  1899,  by  Mr.  Taft. 

Description  of  fruit  grown  in  Mr.  Taft's  orchard  in  1914:  Weight  of  ten, 
361  grams;  form,  pear-shaped;  size,  2l^  by  1  inch;  basin,  slightly  sunken, 
wrinkled;  calyx,  closed;  color,  deep  straw-yellow;  bloom,  fairly  abundant;  dots, 
light,  abundant,  somewhat  streaked;  skin,  thick  and  tough;  flesh,  white,  juicy, 
sweet;  quality,  excellent;  seeds,  three  or  four.  Season  at  Orange,  April  to 
June  15. 

Blush. — Syn.  Eed  Blush.  This  is  a  very  large  loquat  much  like  the  Advance. 
It  was  selected  by  Mr.  Taft  as  a  variety  which  was  almost  immune  to  blight, 
since  about  fifty  out  of  one  hundred  trees  of  the  Blush  did  not  show  even  one 
blighted  blossom.  The  variety  has  been  discarded,  however,  as  it  had  no  other 
point  of  superiority  to  the  Advance,  and  the  latter  has  in  late  years  proved 
almost  as  free  from  blight. 


Fig.  6. — Champagne  loquat,  one  of  the  best  varieties  for  home 
and  commercial  planting 

Champagne. — The  Champagne  is  the  latest  variety  introduced  by  Mr.  Taft, 
having  appeared  about  1908,  and  is  considered  by  him  to  be  superior  to  any  of 
his  other  varieties.  He  is  top-grafting  a  large  number  of  old  trees  with  this 
variety.  It  seems  to  be  unusually  precocious,  judging  from  the  behavior  of 
four  budded  trees.  Each  of  these  a  little  over  one  year  from  the  time  of 
budding  produced  a  single  large  cluster  of  fruit  in  the  center  of  the  tree,  cluster 
No.  1  containing  25,  No.  2,  30,  No.  3,  25,  and  No.  4,  27  loquats.  Young  trees 
have  shown  a  tendency  to  form  slender  branches,  which  break  down  with  the 
weight  of  fruit,  a  difficulty  which  necessitates  thinning  of  the  clusters. 

Description  of  fruit  of  the  crop  of  1914:  Weight  of  ten,  395i/o  grams;  form, 
pear-shaped,  often  oblique;  size,  2  by  1%  inches;  basin,  slightly  corrugated; 
color,  attractive,  golden  yellow;  calyx,  closed,  only  slightly  or  not  at  all  de- 
pressed; skin,  tough;  bloom,  rather  scanty;  flesh,  soft,  juicy,  light  colored;  flavor, 
very  sweet;  quality,  extra  good;  seeds,  3  to  5.  Season  at  Orange,  April  and 
May. 

Commercial. — This  variety  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Taft  in  1900.  The  fruit 
is  of  fair  size  and  of  good  quality.  The  tree  has,  however,  always  been  badly 
affected  with  knot-like  swellings,  which  of  course  are  undesirable  and  more  or 


Bulletin  250 


THE   LOQUAT 


275 


less  weakening  to  the  tree.  They  have  been  reproduced  in  the  growth  of  buds 
taken  from  the  original  tree.     The  variety  is  no  longer  grown  commercially. 

Early  Bed. — This  is  undoubtedly  the  earliest  variety  of  loquat  grown  in 
California  and  is  recommended  for  planting  in  frostless  belts  for  an  early 
market  fruit.    It  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Taft  in  1909. 

Description  of  fruit  of  the  crop  of  1914:  Weight  of  ten,  235  grams;  form, 
obliquely  pear-shaped;  size,  medium;  basin,  shallow,  corrugated;  color,  reddish- 
orange;  dots,  white,  conspicuous;  skin,  thick,  tough;  bloom,  abundant;  flesh, 
juicy,  light  colored;  flavor,  sweet;  quality,  fair.  Season  at  Orange,  February  1 
to  May  15. 

Eulalia. — The  Eulalia  loquat  was  introduced  by  M.  Payan  of  Olive,  Cali- 
fornia, as  one  of  several  seedlings  of  the  Advance,  planted  by  him  in   1897. 


Fig.  7. — Early  Eed  loquat,  a  variety  which  matures  in  February  and  brings 
exceptionally  good  prices  on  account  of  earliness 

The  Advance  tree  from  which  the  seed  was  secured  stood  beside  a  red-fruited 
seedling  tree,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  staminate  parent.  The  first  crop  was 
produced  in  1903,  and  two  years  later  its  dissemination  was  begun.  In  the 
U.  S.  D.  A.  Yearbook  for  1905  a  colored  plate  and  description  of  the  Eulalia 
are  found. 

Description  from  the  Yearbook:  Form,  truncate  pyriform  to  obovate  pyri- 
form;  surface,  smooth,  sparsely  covered  with  light  down;  basin,  irregular, 
abrupt,  corrugated;  color,  orange-yellow,  blushed  and  washed  with  red  when 
tree  ripened  and  overspread  with  a  thin  bloom;  dots,  numerous,  light  gray; 
skin,  thick,  tough,  acid;  flesh,  pinkish,  translucent,  orange,  melting,  tender,  very 
juicy;  seeds  of  medium  size,  rather  numerous;  flavor,  subacid;  quality,  good. 
Season  in  Orange  County,  February  to  May. 

Giant. — In  his  report  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1887,  Reasoner 
stated  that  the  Giant  loquat  had  not  yet  fruited  in  Florida,  but  H.  H.  Berger 
of  California,  a  well  known  importer  of  Japanese  trees,  claimed  that  it  was 


276 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


merely  the  common  variety  grown  on  richer  soil  and  under  more  favorable 
conditions.  The  Giant  loquat  is  figured  but  not  described  in  the  Report  of  the 
United  States  Secretary  of  Agriculture  for  1892,  although  it  is  stated  that  this 
variety  is  regarded  by  the  Japanese  as  the  best  they  have.  In  the  Yearbook 
for  1901,  Taylor  says  that  about  1888  the  variety  of  loquat  known  as  the  Giant 
was  introduced  from  Japan  by  H.  H.  Berger  of  San  Francisco  in  the  form  of 
grafted  trees.     The  loquat  grown  by  Mr.  Taft  as  the  Giant  is  almost  round  and 


Fig.  8. — Premier  loquat,  a  good  home  variety,  but  rather  soft  and 
not  so  good  for  shipping 

is  quite  sweet,  but  as  it  is  neither  so  large  nor  so  good  as  some  other  varieties 
he  has  not  propagated  it. 

Golden. — This  variety  is  being  propagated  by  Newton  B.  Pierce  of  Santa 
Ana,  California,  who  has  furnished  the  following  description:  Size,  very  large; 
color,  golden  from  skin  to  seed;  pear-shaped;  flesh,  thick;  flavor,  very  rich, 
sweet.     Season,  rather  late. 

Mammoth. — The  variety  Mammoth  is  mentioned  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Twenty-second  Session  of  the  American  Pomological  Society,  1889.  In  Australia 
it  is  recommended  tor  the  coast  districts  and  for  any  fair  soil. 


Bulletin  250 


THE    LOQUAT 


277 


Pineapple. — The  Pineapple  loqiiat  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Taft  in  1899.  It 
has  been  grown  in  Florida  and  produced  excellent  fruit,  but  being  a  weak- 
growing  tree  it  was  discarded.  The  fruit  is  mostly  round,  varying  to  pear- 
shaped,  with  light  yellow  skin  and  white  flesh.  The  quality  is  good,  but  inferior 
to  that  of  the  Champagne. 

Premier. — This  variety  was  first  described  by  Mr.  Taft  in  the  Pacific  Kural 
Press,  May  6,  1899.  It  is  a  good  loquat,  but  rather  soft  and  liable  to  decay^ 
not  shipping  so  well  as  firmer  varieties. 


Fig.  9. — A  cluster  of  the  Thales  loquat 


278 


UNIVERSITY   OP    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


Description  of  fruit  grown  at  Orange  in  1914:  Weight  of  ten,  448i/^  grams; 
form,  oblong-oval;  size  1%  by  1%  inches;  color,  deep  straw-yellow  to  salmon; 
bloom,  rather  scanty;  dots,  white,  large,  conspicuous;  skin,  fairly  thick  and 
tough;  flesh,  juicy,  light  colored;  flavor,  sweet;  quality,  good;  seeds,  four  or 
five.     Season  at  Orange,  April  1  to  June  1. 

Staley. — The  original  tree  of  this  variety  is  growing  in  the  yard  of  the 
Staley  place  on  Placentia  avenue,  near  Placentia.  It  was  obtained  as  a  grafted 
tree  from  Berger  &  Co.  of  San  Francisco  about  the  same  time  as  those  grown 
by  a  neighbor,  Mr.  Thales,  the  fruit  being  quite  similar  to  the  Thales  variety, 
but  not  so  large. 

Tanalca. — This  variety  originated  as  a  seedling  in  Tokyo,  Japan,  and  was 
introduced  into  this  country  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
in  June,  1902.  It  is  described  as  the  largest  fruited  Joquat  in  Japan,  the  range 
of  weight  being  between  40  and  80  grams.  The  fruit  is  egg-shaped  and  of 
very  good  quality.  Young  trees  of  the  Tanaka  have  been  introduced  into 
California,  but  have  so  far  not  fruited  sufficiently  to  show  their  value. 


Fig.  10. — Thales  loquat,  a  variety  bearing  attractive  orange-colored 
fruits,  especially  good  for  shipping 


Bulletin  250 


THE    LOQUAT 


279 


Thales,  Syn.  Placentia  Giant;  Gold  Nugget. — All  of  the  loquat  trees  grown  by 
Mr,  W.  L.  Thales  of  Placentia  have  been  propagated  from  two  grafted  trees 
purchased  by  Mr.  Thales'  father  some  time  in  the  eighties  from  Berger  &  Co. 
One  of  these  trees  produced  very  fine  fruit;  the  other  produced  small  and  inferior 
fruit,  which  is  used  only  as  a  source  of  seed  for  nursery  stock.  The  fruit  of 
the  better  variety  is  shipped  to  Los  Angeles  under  the  name  of  "Placentia 
Giant"  and  on  the  fruit  stands  it  is  sometimes  labeled  ''Gold  Nugget."  The 
name  Thales  has  been  applied  to  this  loquat  by  the  West  India  Gardens  of 
Altadena,  where  it  is  being  propagated  to  some  extent.  The  fruit  is  especially 
attractive  on  account  of  its  color,  although  the  quality  is  not  so  good  nor  the 
sugar  content  so  high  as  that  of  some  of  the  other  varieties.  It  is  an  especially 
good  shipping  variety. 

Description  of  fruit  grown  in  Mr.  Thales'  orchard  in  1914:  Weight  of  ten, 
473  grams;  form,  oblong-obovate;  size,  large;  basin,  slightly  depressed,  regular; 
color,  orange-yellow,  very  attractive;  dots,  white,  numerous,  somewhat  streaked; 


Fig.  11. — Victor  loquat,  a  firm-fruited  variety  especially  good 
for  canning 

bloom,  scanty;  skin,  tough;  flesh,  thick,  orange-yellow,  juicy;  flavor,  sweet; 
quality,  fair;  seeds,  2  to  4.     Season  at  Placentia,  April  and  May. 

Variegated. — The  variegated  loquat  is  grown  for  ornamental  purposes  only. 
It  is  mentioned  in  Eeasoner's  Keport  on  Florida  fruits  for  1887,  and  was  intro- 
duced later  from  Japan  by  the  Office  of  Seed  and  Plant  Introduction  under 
No.  9246.  The  tree  is  listed  occasionally  in  nursery  catalogues,  but  is  seldom 
propagated,  as  there  has  been  little  demand  for  it. 

Victor. — The  Victor  loquat  was  described  by  Mr.  Taft  in  the  Pacific  Eural 
Press,  May  6,  1899.  It  has  redder  flesh  than  the  Advance  and  is  perhaps  larger, 
but  the  clusters  are  not  so  fine.  On  account  of  its  firmness  it  has  long  been 
recommended  as  a  good  variety  for  canning. 

Description  of  fruit  grown  in  Mr.  Taft's  orchard  in  1914:  Weight  of  eight, 
299  grams;  form,  oblong-oval;  size,  medium  to  large;  basin,  slightly  depressed; 
color,  deep  golden-yellow;  dots,  white,  numerous;  bloom,  thin;  skin,  tough; 
flesh,  yellowish-white;  flavor,  sweet,  lacking  character;  quality,  good;  seeds, 
3  to  5.     Season  at  Orange,  May  15  to  July  1. 


280 


UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


A  variety  of  loquat  known  as  the  Taza  has  recently  been  developed 
b}^  Dr.  Trabut  of  Algiers^-  by  crossing  the  Tanaka  with  an  Algerian 
variety.  The  fruit  is  described  as  being  large,  very  firm,  and  having 
a  flesh  less  colored  than  the  Tanaka  but  more  fragrant  and  agreeable 
to  the  taste.  It  will  be  ready  for  distribution  in  1915.  Other  Algerian 
varieties  are:  Olivier,  Longue,  Mercadal,  Don  Carlos,  Baronne  Hall, 
St.  Michel  long  and  round,  Scala,  Narbonne,  Dauphin,  Tolemly  Pre- 
cocious, Miss  Archwright,  Pomme,  Miss  B.  Hall,  Doree,  and  Meffre's 
No.  2. 

The  following  varieties  are  from  Italy:  Palermo,  Limoncello, 
Conca  d'Oro,  Vanille,  A  un  Pepin,  and  Santa  Rosalia. 

Some  of  the  Australian  varieties  are:  Chatsworth  Victory,  Early 
Golden,  Gigantic,  Herd's  Mammoth,  and  Thame's  Prize.  Bonita  is  a 
Mexican  variety. 

The  following  analyses  of  two  California  varieties,  the  Champagne 
and  the  Thales,  have  been  furnished  by  Professor  Jaffa  of  the  Division 
of  Nutrition  of  this  station : 


Thales 

Loquat, 

grown  by 

W.  L.  Thales, 

Placentia,  Cal. 

Proportion  of  edible  portion  and  refuse : 

Edible  portion,  per  cent  70.00 

Seeds,  per  cent  15.00 

Skins  and  core   (rag)  15.00 

Analysis  of  edible  portion: 

Water,  per  cent  89.00 

Protein,  per  cent  0.35 

Fat,  per  cent  0.06 

Sugar: 

Dextrose,  per  cent  8.95 

Sucrose,  per  cent  0.94 

Crude  fiber,  per  cent  0.30 

Ash,  per  cent 0.29 

Undetermined,  per  cent  0.11 


100.00 


Champagne 

Loquat, 

grown  by 

C.  P.  Taft, 

Orange,  Cal. 


62.20 
18.20 
19.60 

85.00 
0.32 
0.03 

11.96 
0.83 
0.37 
0.36 
1.13 

100.00 


PESTS 

Diseases. — The  loquat  is  subject  to  only  a  few  fungous  diseases,  the  most 
serious  being  the  pear  blight.  The  following  list  includes  some  which  are  found 
in  California  and  a  few  others  which  have  been  reported  as  occurring  in  other 
countries: 


Bulletin  250  THE  LOQUAT  281 

Anthracnose  or  Blossom  Blight  {Collet otriclium  sp.).  This  disease  was  noted 
in  the  U.  S.  D.  A.  Yearbook  for  1907  as  being  prevalent  in  Southern  Florida. 
C.  poUacii  is  reported  as  appearing  on  loquats  in  Italy. 

Black  Spot  or  Scab  (Fusicladium  dendriticum  var.  eriohotryae) .  This  is  re- 
ported^s  to  be  a  serious  disease  of  the  loquat  in  Australia.  The  fruit  is  attacked 
when  half  grown  by  brownish-black  spots,  which  soon  extend,  stop  the  further 
development  of  the  fruit,  and  disfigure  its  appearance.  The  fleshy  part  of  the 
fruit  becomes  dessicated  and  the  skin  seems  to  cling  to  the  stones.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  crop  may  in  a  short  space  of  time  be  rendered  absolutely 
unsalable.  It  is  also  well  known  in  Italy  upon  the  leaves.  In  California  the 
scab  is  quite  common  both  on  nursery  and  bearing  trees,  attacking  both  leaves 
and  fruit.  It  is  figured  in  Bulletin  218  of  this  station.  Spraying  with  Bordeaux 
mixture  after  the  blossoms  have  fallen  and  the  fruit  is  setting  should  prove  an 
effective  remedy. 

Pear  Blight  (Bacillus  amylovorus) . — The  pear  blight  is  a  serious  enemy  of 
the  loquat  at  times,  blossom  blight  often  being  especially  abundant  on  trees 
during  the  spring  months.  Such  infected  twigs  should  be  cut  off  well  back  of 
the  diseased  area  and  burned,  care  being  taken  to  sterilize  the  pruning  shears 
in  alcohol  or  formalin  after  each  cut  so  as  to  reduce  the  danger  of  further 
infection.  Occasionally  entire  trees  are  killed  by  the  blight,  which  gradually 
extends  downward  from  the  branches  into  the  trunk,  although  in  most  cases 
the  disease  does  not  seem  to  progress  much  beyond  the  branches.  Some  varieties 
are  more  susceptible  than  others.  For  example,  the  Advance  is  quite  resistant 
and  the  trees  of  the  Victor,  which  were  very  susceptible  when  young,  have  in 
later  years  become  more  or  less  immune;  the  Champagne  showed  considerable 
blossom  blight  in  the  spring  of  1914,  but  to  no  greater  extent  than  young  trees 
of  other  varieties.     The  trees  seem  to  gain  resistance  as  they  grow  older. 

The  oak-root  fungus  (Armillaria  mellea)  is  reported  to  have  killed  a  large 
loquat  tree  in  Santa  Barbara  County. 

In  South  Africa  a  species  of  Entomosporium  frequently  attacks  young  nursery 
trees  and  it  has  been  seen  on  bearing  trees,  but  no  serious  damage  has  resulted. 

Insects. — The  number  of  insect  pests  of  the  loquat  is  much  smaller  than  the 
number  of  fungous  pests.  The  tree  is  seldom  found  to  be  seriously  attacked  by 
scale  insects,  probably  on  account  of  the  pubescent  nature  of  the  young  leaves 
and  shoots.  The  San  Jose  scale  is  reported  to  occur  on  the  trees  in  Butte 
County.  An  occasional  specimen  of  black  scale  may  be  found  on  the  leaves  or 
even  on  the  fruit,  especially  if  the  tree  is  near  an  infested  olive  or  citrus  tree. 
The  greedy  scale  is  often  found  abundantly  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  leaves 
along  the  midrib,  and  also  on  the  stems  wherever  the  pubescence  has  disap- 
peared.    Other  species  of  insects  have  been  reported  on  the  loquat  as  follows: 

A  lepidopterous  larva  (Dichocrocis  punctiferalis)  attacks  loquats  in  Australia, 
according  to  the  Queensland  Agricultural  Journal  of  1913. 

The  Mediterranean  fruit  fly  {Ceratitis  capitata)  is  reported  by  Severin,  Sil- 
vestri,  and  Ehrhorn  to  infest  loquat  fruit  under  certain  conditions. 

The  green  apple  aphis  {Aphis  pomi)  has  been  collected  on  loquats  at  Santa 
Paula  and  Claremont,  California,  by  E.  O.  Essig. 

The  cotton  square-borer  {Uranotes  melinus)  sometimes  attacks  loquats  in 
Florida,  according  to  the  Annual  Eeport  of  that  station  for  1913. 

Birds. — Linnets  are  probably  the  most  serious  pests  in  a  loquat  orchard. 
During  one  season  the  tanagers  were  common  at  Fullerton  and  destroyed  con- 


282 


UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION 


siderable  fruit,  but  their  depredations  are  infrequent.  In  small  orchards  pro- 
tection can  be  gained  by  the  use  of  muslin  or  paper  bags,  as  has  been  previously 
described.  In  larger  orchards  the  birds  may  be  poisoned  by  means  of  oranges 
cut  in  half  and  placed  around  the  edges  of  a  tray  elevated  above  the  ground; 
after  the  birds  have  had  a  good  taste  of  the  orange,  strychnine  is  added  to  the 
pulp.  As  many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  linnets  a  day  are  reported  to  have 
been  killed  in  this  way,  while  only  a  few  useful  birds  were  harmed.  Fig  growers 
of  the  Fresno  district  often  hire  boys  to  shoot  the  birds. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


1.  1712.     Kaempfer.     Amoenitates  Exoticae,  fasc.  5,  p.  800. 

2.  1784.     Thunberg,  C.  P.,  First  Description  as  Mespilus  Japonica.     Flora  Ja- 

ponica,  p.  206. 

3.  1820.     Bagot,  Lord  Wm.,  Letter  and  notes.     Transactions  of  the  Hort.  So- 

ciety of  London,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  299-304,  PI.  XI. 

4.  1822.     Lindley,  John,  Description  as  Eriobotrya  Japonica.     Trans.  Linn,  Soc, 

Vol.  XIII,  p.  102. 

5.  1851.     Williams,  S.  W.,  Letter  from  China.     U.  S.  Patent  Office  Report,  Doc. 

32,  p.  450. 

6.  1853.     Wallace,  P.,  Loquat  in  St.  Michael's  Island.     Journal  of  the  Hort. 

Society  of  London,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  51. 

7.  1860.     Williams,  S.  W.,  Notes.     U.  S.  Patent  Office  Report,  p.  475. 

8.  1867.     Atwood,  Geo.  W.,  Loquat  in  the  South.     U.  S.  Dept.  Agric.  Report, 

p.  143. 

9.  1872.     Ed.,  Early  History  in  California.     The  California  Horticulturist,  Vol. 

II,  p.  278. 

10.  1875.     Redmond,  D.,  Loquat   in   Southern   States.     Proc.    15th   Session   Am. 

Pom.  Society,  p.  56. 

11.  1879.     Rich,  George,  Trees  at  Sacramento.     California  Horticulturist,  Vol. 

9,  p.  111. 

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